Department of Health and Social Care

Cardiovascular Diseases

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what response they have to the recent analysis by the British Heart Foundation that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, nearly 100,000 more people than expected have died from cardiovascular disease.

Lord Markham: Between March 2020 and May 2023 cardiovascular disease was a significant contributor to excess deaths. That is why we are going further to empower and support people to manage their heart health risks through the development of a digital NHS Health Check and have appointed Professor Deanfield to lead work to develop an ambitious approach to personalised prevention.Cardiovascular disease will form a part of the Government’s Major Conditions Strategy which will focus on conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England. The Strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that underpins a shift to integrated, whole-person care, building on measures that we have already taken forward through the NHS Long Term Plan. Interventions set out in the Strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to place a copy of the risk management framework, which was referred to in NHS England’s protection of patient data, published on 23 May, in the Library of the House.

Lord Markham: NHS England advises that it has sought views on the draft terms of reference for its Advisory Group for Data from the Department, The National Data Guardian, The Independent Group Advising (NHS Digital) on Release of Data prior to the legal merger, and subsequently the interim data advisory group established until terms of reference are finalised and approved and NHS England's Cyber Security and Risk Committee. The draft terms of reference are currently being updated to take into account feedback and once they have been approved by the Board or a sub-committee of the Board, NHS England advises it will publish them in line with the Statutory Guidance. The statutory guidance on NHS England’s protection of patient data states that the data advisory group should, among other functions, be able to provide NHS England with advice as requested on "streamlining and continuously improving internal and external data access processes, using a clearly understood risk management framework, precedent approaches and standards that requests must meet". Once the terms of reference for the new group are approved and the group is in place NHS England will work, with the new group's advice, to agree an appropriate risk management framework including considering the form that might take, how it might be summarised or articulated, and what information about it should be published. Interim arrangements are in place while this new group is being established and advice is sought based on the published Data Access Request Service (DARS) Standards and Precedents in relation to applications for access to data. These arrangements and the advice provided by the group are reflected in the minutes of each meeting of the interim group.

Urinary Tract Infections

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans for trialsacross England of antibiotic cessation for those receiving prophylactic antibiotics for recurrent urinary tracts infection, as pioneered in Wales.

Lord Markham: NHS England has supported two integrated care boards (ICBs) in the East of England to pilot local schemes to incentivise primary care networks to identify patients prescribed prophylactic antibiotics and invite those patients for a clinical review. Prescribing data will be used to monitor the impact of these pilot schemes and, if safe and effective, underpin a national roll out of this approach.

Gender Dysphoria: Health Services

Lord Blencathra: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter fromthe Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care on 21 June, whether any staff employed in the Gender Identity Development Service of the Tavistock Clinic will be employed in any capacity in the new centres being opened from April 2024 to treat children presenting with apparent gender dysphoria.

Lord Markham: This information requested is not held centrally. It is the responsibility of the trusts providing the new services to undertake staff recruitment. The new services are building multi-disciplinary teams of specialists to provide care to the children and young people referred to these services.The new services will be delivered in line with the NHS England’s new interim service specification, which reflects the new clinical model set out by Dr Cass. As such, any staff that move from the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust will be fully signed up to this approach. An oversight group will ensure any training delivered to staff is in line with the new clinical approach.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Baroness Cox: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps theyare taking to increase national capacity in (1) cancer treatment units, and (2) radiotherapy units, in line with the increase in patients diagnosed with cancer.

Lord Markham: NHS England Specialised Commissioning is the responsible commissioner for all radiotherapy services across England and so is responsible for setting evidence-based national service standards for radiotherapy, including service specifications, clinical commissioning policies, and the introduction of more centres and units for radiotherapy. In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to cancer alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.

Infectious Diseases: Diagnosis

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what plansthey have to improve the integration of diagnostics around infection into clinical systems.

Lord Markham: Government is committed to accelerating the development of new diagnostics technologies, bringing life changing innovations to patients more quickly. Diagnostic testing is integral to the identification, monitoring and management infection and work is ongoing to increase the use of Diagnostics at Home and identifying innovations that have the potential to improve current systems, including around infection control.

Radiotherapy

Baroness Cox: To ask His Majesty's Government whichbody is currently in charge of the commissioning of radiotherapy services in England; and whether they have any plans to change this over the next two years.

Lord Markham: NHS England is the accountable commissioner for radiotherapy services, and as such is responsible for setting evidence-based national service standards for radiotherapy, including service specifications and clinical commissioning policies. There are no plans for this to change in the future.

Healthy Start Scheme: Pregnancy

Baroness Boycott: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide a full list of documents that pregnant women applying for Healthy Start can submit as proof of pregnancy.

Lord Markham: The NHS Business Services Authority deliver the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Pregnant applicants need to self-declare their pregnancy in the application form, no further documents are required as proof of pregnancy.

Radiotherapy: Artificial Intelligence

Baroness Cox: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the use of artificial intelligence technology in radiotherapy treatment in England.

Lord Markham: Since 2020, the Department has provided £123 million to 86 artificial intelligence (AI) technologies through the AI in Health and Care Award. The Award is accelerating the testing and evaluation of the most promising AI technologies likely to meet the aims set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.Funding was provided for two projects, one from Mirada Medical and one led by Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust (project OSAIRIS), that specialise in assisting clinicians by automatically segmenting radiotherapy scans. The current process requires a time-consuming manual procedure, outlining healthy organs to be avoided during radiotherapy treatment. These technologies could significantly reduce the time from people being referred for radiotherapy to starting treatment. Award funding was granted to generate more evidence and test the feasibility of AI tools of this type.

Electronic Cigarettes: Children and Young People

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increasing number of children and young people vaping.

Lord Storey: To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to banning the sale of flavoured vapes which may be attractive to children and young people.

Lord Markham: The Government assessment is that youth vaping has increased. Over the past decade, the use of vapes by children has been consistently low. However, data collected in NHS Digital’s Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England survey showed that in 2021 9% of 11 to 15 year old children currently used e-cigarettes, up from 6% in 2018.It is illegal to sell nicotine vapes to children and we are concerned about the recent rises in youth vaping, particularly because of the unknown long-term harms. To address this the government announced in April a call for evidence on youth vaping and £3 million of additional funding through the creation of an illicit vapes enforcement squad to tackle underage sales.At the end of May the Prime Minister made a further announcement to close a loophole that allows industry from giving out free samples, increase education and to support the dedicated school police liaison officers to keep illegal vapes out of schools, and review both on the spot fines and underage sales for non-nicotine vapes.Our youth vaping call for evidence closed on the 6 June. This call explored a range of issues and asked questions related to the appeal of vapes to children. We are analysing responses and the evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products. This will include an assessment of the appeal of flavours. We will publish the response early this autumn to outline our next steps.

Ambulance Services: Standards

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the average ambulance response time in(1) NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, and (2) NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board, in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021, and (d) 2022.

Lord Markham: Ambulance response times by Integrated Care Board (ICB) area are not centrally collected

Medical Records: Data Protection

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish a list of organisations from whom views have been sought, whether formally or informally, on drafts of the new terms of reference for NHS England’s Advisory Group for Data.

Lord Markham: NHS England advises that it has sought views on the draft terms of reference for its Advisory Group for Data from the Department, The National Data Guardian, The Independent Group Advising (NHS Digital) on Release of Data prior to the legal merger, and subsequently the interim data advisory group established until terms of reference are finalised and approved and NHS England's Cyber Security and Risk Committee. The draft terms of reference are currently being updated to take into account feedback and once they have been approved by the Board or a sub-committee of the Board, NHS England advises it will publish them in line with the Statutory Guidance. The statutory guidance on NHS England’s protection of patient data states that the data advisory group should, among other functions, be able to provide NHS England with advice as requested on "streamlining and continuously improving internal and external data access processes, using a clearly understood risk management framework, precedent approaches and standards that requests must meet". Once the terms of reference for the new group are approved and the group is in place NHS England will work, with the new group's advice, to agree an appropriate risk management framework including considering the form that might take, how it might be summarised or articulated, and what information about it should be published. Interim arrangements are in place while this new group is being established and advice is sought based on the published Data Access Request Service (DARS) Standards and Precedents in relation to applications for access to data. These arrangements and the advice provided by the group are reflected in the minutes of each meeting of the interim group.

National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government when an update (1) was last published, and (2) will next be published, on the partnerships on analytical projects between the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service and organisations such as Cancer Research UK, Macmillan, and various universities.

Lord Markham: Information on National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service’s (NCRAS) analytical partnerships is publicly available in an online-only format on the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) website. This page is in development after the transition of NDRS from Public Health England to NHS Digital and subsequently into NHS England in January this year. The web page is being continually updated with more information. Previous information of NCRAS analytical partnerships was published by Public Health England in March 2019.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons that, according to the British Heart Foundation, excess deaths due to cardiovascular disease outnumber excess deaths involving all other individual diseases since the onset of the pandemic in England.

Lord Markham: Whilst a detailed assessment of reasons for excess cardiovascular deaths outnumbering other diseases is not available, evidence on excess mortality attributable to non-COVID-19 related causes implies that it is likely due to a combination of factors. This may include disruption to routine care during the first two years of the pandemic, lifestyle factors and disruption to emergency care and urgent elective procedures.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Nigeria: Christianity

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they are making to the government of Nigeriaregarding (1) persecution of, and (2) violence directed at, Christians in (a) Plateau, (b) Kaduna, and (c) Benue, states.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Insecurity, driven by a range of factors, is undermining Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for Nigerian communities of all faiths. Supporting Nigeria to address conflict will remain a focus of the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership. As part of this partnership, the FCDO has funded peacebuilding initiatives in Nigerian states including Plateau, Kaduna and Benue, targeted at addressing intercommunal conflict. In April 2023, the former High Commissioner discussed the impact of insecurity on Christians with the Governor-Elect of Plateau State; and the UK's Special Envoy for FoRB called on the Nigerian government to bring perpetrators of attacks in Benue to account. We remain committed to supporting Nigeria to address insecurity - last week the British High Commissioner discussed insecurity in his first meeting with new Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 1 June (HL7914), whether the partners with whom they collaborate with regard to foreign aid spending on sexual and reproductive health include relevant elected officials in the countries concerned, particularly with regard to any expenditure in relation to abortion.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The FCDO collaborates with a range of partners to protect and progress universal, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Where these collaborations are with country governments they will often include elected individuals. Finally, all Overseas Development Assistance spent on increasing access to safe abortion operates within national laws in every country receiving UK funds.

UNRWA: Finance

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government whatdiscussions they have had with other donor countries about providing new funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) following UNWRA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini’s forecast on 20 June of likely cuts to UNWRA's service provision.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are longstanding supporters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), providing essential humanitarian support to Palestinian refugees across its five zones of operation. Our annual contribution to their programme budget helps UNRWA provide education to over 533,000 children a year (half of them girls), and access to health services for 3.5 million Palestinian refugees. We are aware of UNRWA's financial challenges and frequently raise this with MENA regional partners at ministerial level, most recently with the Government of the United Arab Emirates. To that end, the UK Government is working with UNRWA and other international donors to help ensure its sustainability.

Africa: Science

Lord Boateng: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic and social impact of collaboration inscientific research between British and African universities and research institutes.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Scientific research collaborations between British and African research institutions make vital contributions to economic growth and the UK's wider development in Africa. Scientific collaborations are helping to overcome many of the most significant global challenges, from public health emergencies to climate change, to energy, education and more. HMG therefore invests in a wide range of UK-Africa scientific collaborations, including partnerships with the including the Science Foundation for Africa, the African Research Universities Alliance, and the Science Granting Councils Initiative.

Home Office

Police: Medals

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government whether (1) police officers in England and Wales, (2) police officers in Scotland, and (3) Police Service of Northern Ireland officers who had completed five full calendar years of service on 6 May, or who participate in Armed Service Coronation events during the course of 2023, will receive a Coronation Medal.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The King’s Coronation Medal will be awarded to all emergency services personnel in the UK who have been in paid service, in a retained or voluntary capacity, dealing with emergencies as part of their conditions of services and have completed five full calendar years of service on 6 May 2023. Individuals who have actively contributed to the official Coronation events in Westminster Abbey and processions, and other officially recognised ceremonial Coronation events will also be awarded with the medal.

Police: Misconduct

Lord Swire: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) revisit, or (2) replace, police regulations to enable the easier dismissal of police officers who have committed misconduct.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Home Secretary has been clear that standards in policing must improve and, in January, launched a review into the process of police officer dismissals, ensuring that the system is fair and effective at removing those officers who are not fit to serve. The Terms of Reference for the review can be found here: Police officer dismissals review: terms of reference - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The Government is considering the findings of the review carefully before determining next steps and announcements on any changes to the system will be made in due course.

Department for Business and Trade

British Business Bank: Northern Ireland

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to ensure that the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland to be delivered by the British Business Bank is equally accessible to (1) existing, and (2) new, small businesses.

The Earl of Minto: The fund managers of the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland will have a mandate to ensure equal access to the fund for all Northern Ireland businesses, both new and established, and to publicise the fund widely. Loans and investments will be based on the merits of the applications received. New, small businesses might be less likely to have viable proposals for debt or equity finance than existing more established businesses. For these new businesses, the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme may be more suitable. Since 2012, 1,625 Start Up Loans have been awarded in Northern Ireland with a total value of £14,254,228.

Exports: Serbia

Baroness Helic: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the value of support given in respect of exports to Serbia under the (1) Bond Insurance Policy, (2) Bond Support Scheme, (3) Buyer Credit Facility, (4) Direct Lending Facility, (5) Export Development Guarantee, (6) Export Insurance Policy, (7) Export Working Capital Scheme, (8) General Export Facility, (9) Overseas Investment Insurance, (10) Standard Buyer Loan Guarantee, (11) supplier credit facilities, and (12) Supply Chain Discount Guarantee in the past five financial years for which figures are available.

Lord Offord of Garvel: Total UKEF support for exports to Serbia over the past five financial years (2017-18 to 2021-22) for which we have audited figures is shown in the table: UKEF ProductValue of UKEF supportBond Insurance Policy-Bond Support Scheme£130,394Buyer Credit Facility£405,348,227Direct Lending Facility-Export Development Guarantee-Export Insurance Policy£76,808Export Working Capital Scheme£6,978General Export Facility-Overseas Investment Insurance-Standard Buyer Loan Guarantee-Supplier Credit Facilities-Supply Chain Discount Guarantee-

Ministry of Defence

Warships: Procurement

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply byBaroness Goldie on 20 June (HL Deb col 100), whether the Ministry of Defence will raise with the Treasury the case for having a multi-year rolling programme of warship orders.

Baroness Goldie: The Royal Navy (RN) has ambitious plans to ensure its fleet remains modern and capable of dealing with evolving threats. Regular discussions take place between the RN, the Ministry of Defence and His Majesty's Treasury to ensure this is funded in a way that provides value for money for taxpayers and the best capability for the RN.The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, published on 10 March 2022, sets out the ambition for the pipeline of more than 150 new naval and civil vessels for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations over the next 30 years.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Broadband and Mobile Phones: Prices

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recent significant increases in the prices of mobile phone and internet services on inflation; and what plans, if any, they have to address these rises with the providers of such services.

Viscount Camrose: We understand that this is a difficult time for households across the country who are struggling with their bills as a result of the rise in the cost of living, and price rises at this time are particularly unwelcome.The latest ONS data suggests that prices for telephone and telefax equipment and services (e.g. telecoms equipment such as telephones, fax machines as well as services including broadband and mobile airtime contracts) in the year to May 2023 increased 9.1% and contributed 0.2 percentage points of the 8.7% annual CPI rate published in May 2023.Ofcom is undertaking a review into the transparency of in-contract price rises and expects to report by the end of the year. We look forward to their findings.To support low-income families, the Government has worked closely with Ofcom and the industry to bring a range of social tariffs into the market. These low-cost, high-quality broadband and mobile offers are available from a range of providers, across 99% of the UK and start from as low as £10 per month.More broadly, last June, as a result of Government negotiations, the telecoms sector agreed a set of public commitments to support their customers struggling with their broadband or mobile bills, including allowing households to switch to cheaper tariffs or enter into payment plans without penalty. We would urge anyone concerned about their telecom bills to contact their provider to discuss the support available.

Internet: Children

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the safety of children online, including measures to combat cyberbullying, online grooming, and exposure to harmful content.

Viscount Camrose: The strongest protections in the Online Safety Bill are for children. The Bill will require all services in scope to protect their users from illegal content. This includes all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse, including grooming, which have been designated as priority offences under the Bill. This means all in scope companies must take proactive, preventative measures to limit people’s exposure to this content and criminal behaviour.In addition, where content is harmful to children but falls below the criminal threshold, service providers which are likely to be accessed by children will have to take action to protect children from encountering it. This includes cyberbullying, pornography and content which promotes suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. These duties extend to ensuring that systems for targeting content to children, such as the use of algorithms, and other features and functionalities on the service such as live streaming and private messaging, protect children from harmful material.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Energy Supply: Caravan Sites

Baroness Whitaker: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that gypsy and traveller site residents have consumer choice of energy providers.

Lord Callanan: Electricity and gas suppliers generally provide energy to parks and traveller sites via a contract with the park or site owner, who then resells that energy to the tenants. Therefore, residents buy their energy from the park/site owner, not from an energy supplier. Ofgem has put in place the Maximum Resale Price regulation which requires park or site owners to resell energy to tenants at the same price that they bought it from the supplier. Whether a tenant can have a direct relationship with an energy supplier will be governed by the terms of the arrangement between the park or site owner and tenant, plus whether the local metering and cabling arrangements enable the residence to operate a direct connection to the distribution system.

Offshore Industry: Territorial Waters

Baroness Boycott: To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of existing oil and gas fields within the UK’s territorial waters is owned by companies headquartered in the UK.

Baroness Boycott: To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of oil and gas extracted from UK territorial waters was extracted by companies headquartered in the UK in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, and (4) 2022.

Lord Callanan: The Government does not specifically track the headquarters of oil and gas licensees operating on the UK Continental Shelf. However, it is a requirement that all licence holders must be UK registered, either as a company or as a branch of an overseas company.

Department for Education

Boarding Schools: Children in Care

Baroness Eaton: To ask His Majesty's Government how many looked after children were placed in boarding schools for the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by age.

Baroness Barran: The department does not hold this information centrally. The department does hold information on the number of looked after children placed in residential schools. However, it is not possible to distinguish between boarding schools and other residential schools, such as residential special schools. Therefore, we are not able to provide the information requested overall or by age.Figures on the overall number of looked after children in England placed in residential schools were published in the annual statistics release titled ‘Children looked after, including adoptions, 2021-22’. On 31 March 2022, there were 110 looked after children in these residential schools, which includes boarding schools and residential special schools. These annual statistics are available in the attached table.Children looked after, including adoption 2021/22 (pdf, 115.2KB)

Students: Loans

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how much the new Plan 5 loans for higher education starters will increase the average cost of higher education for graduates; and whether the new arrangements will result in graduates in England paying more and for longer than under the present system.

Baroness Barran: The Plan 5 reforms will make the student loan system fairer for taxpayers and fairer for students, helping to keep the system sustainable in the long term.The new loan plan asks graduates to repay for longer and from an income threshold of £25,000, but also increases certainty for borrowers by reducing interest rates to match inflation only. This change ensures that borrowers on the new Plan 5 terms will not repay, under those terms, more than they originally borrowed over the lifetime of their loans, when adjusted for inflation. Lower earners will still be protected. If a borrower’s income is below the repayment threshold of £25,000 per year, they won’t be required to make any repayments at all.A comprehensive equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments under Plan 5, was produced and published in February 2022. The assessment is attached.HE policy assessment (pdf, 943.1KB)

Boarding Schools: Children in Care

Baroness Eaton: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by Josh MacAlisterThe Independent Review of Children's Social Care, published in May 2022, what is their response to the recommendation that the Department for Education "should consider investing some of the free schools capital budget into a new wave of state boarding capacity"; and whether funding will be provided for new state boarding capacity within the free schools budget.

Baroness Barran: The department published bold and ambitious plans to reform children’s social care on the 2 February 2023 through ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. It sets out how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life. Over the next two years, the department will address urgent issues facing children and families now and lay the foundations for whole system reform.As set out in the government’s response to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care, the department has extended the Broadening Educational Pathways Programme to increase the number of children in care in independent and state boarding schools. The department will use the evidence generated from this to inform long-term ambitions for this programme.The free schools programme is open to proposals offering boarding provision. Although no such proposals were received in the most recent round of free school applications, there are currently five open free schools that offer boarding, with at least a further three set to open in the future. Plans for future free school application rounds have not yet been developed and will be considered as part of a future spending review.

Treasury

Enterprise Investment Scheme

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they publicly consulted the Enterprise Investment Scheme; and, if so, when.

Baroness Penn: The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) was introduced in 1994 and since then the Government has consulted on the scheme and related issues on a number of occasions. The most recent examples were in 2017, when the Government published the ‘Financing growth in innovative firms’ consultation and in 2018 through the follow up ‘Financing growth in innovative firms: Enterprise Investment Scheme knowledge-intensive fund’, both as part of the Patient Capital Review.

Taxation: Payments

Lord Colgrain: To ask His Majesty's Government what instructions, if any, they have issued to local revenue offices about deferring the repayment of tax.

Lord Colgrain: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany local revenue offices have informed tax payers that they should not expect tax repayment that they are owed until September, and for what reasons.

Baroness Penn: HMRC covers a wide range of taxes where refunds may be made. These include, for example, Income Tax (both Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment), Corporation Tax, Stamp Duty Land Tax, Value Added Tax (with a number of different regimes in use), Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax. The speed of repayment, and our service level agreements (SLAs) for speed of repayment, varies across different areas. Footnote:How HMRC is performing against its service standards can be found here:https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/guidance/HMRC-service-dashboard/outcome/HMRC-service-dashboard

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Victoria Tower Gardens

Baroness Deech: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byBaroness Scott of Bybrook on 22 June (HL Deb col 328) that the proposed design for a Holocaust memorial “uses approximately 7.5 per cent of the area of Victoria Tower Gardens”, and the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government) on 4 July 2019 (HC270274), which refers to around 85 per cent of green space being retained, whether they will clarify the amount of green space that would be lost; and what assessment they have made of the calculation by the London Historic Parks & Gardens Trust that 29.6 per cent of the green space, excluding the mound, would be lost.

Baroness Deech: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byBaroness Scott of Bybrook on 22 June (HL Deb col 328), in relation to the consideration of alternative sites for a Holocaust memorial, that “all that work was done many years ago”, whether they intend to publish their assessment of sites alternative to Victoria Tower Gardens.

Baroness Deech: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byBaroness Scott of Bybrook on 22 June (HL Deb col 329) concerning the proposed Holocaust memorial, whether they will clarify what was meant by the statement that "The view of Parliament from the memorial will serve as a permanent reminder that political decisions have far-reaching consequences".

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Detailed information on the proposed Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre published as part of the planning application includes an assessment of the significance of the chosen location (see especially the proof of evidence of the UK Holocaust Memorial co-chairs (document cd 8.1) and the assessment of alternative sites (see environmental statement volume 2 revised chapter 4 (cd 6.49)). The information remains available on Westminster City Council’s website.In addition to the planning application information, the answers I provided on 12 April 2023 (HL6914) and 5 May (HL7432) provide detailed figures on the areas used for the proposed development. For clarity, the figure of approximately 7.5% relates to the total area of Victoria Tower Gardens and the figure of around 85% relates to the area of green space at Victoria Tower Gardens.PQ HL6914 (pdf, 128.4KB)PQ HL7432 (pdf, 100.8KB)

Affordable Housing: Construction

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government how many homes for (1) social rent, and (2) affordable rent, were built in England in 2013 and each year since up to the last year records are available.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: The Government collects and publishes data on affordable housing by financial year, tenure and whether they are new build or acquisition. These data are published in Live Table 1009 which is available (attached) here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supplyLive Table on affordable housing (pdf, 161.8KB)

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government for what reasons they support the commemoration of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime against people of Jewish origin and others in Victoria Tower Gardens, to the exclusion of other genocides and other available sites.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Victoria Tower Gardens was chosen as the most fitting site in terms of its historical, emotional, and political significance and its ability to offer the greatest potential impact and visibility for the project. The planned Holocaust Memorial will commemorate the six million Jewish people and all victims of Nazi persecution, and the accompanying learning centre will address subsequent genocides.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the proposed Holocaust Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens will affect the Buxton anti-slavery memorial location, in terms of (1) physical distance, (2) daylight, and (3) visitor numbers; and what research, if any, has been carried out by planners to obtain these answers.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Landscape improvements as part of the proposed Holocaust Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens are intended to enhance the opportunity to appreciate the significance of the Buxton Memorial. Full details of the assessed impact on the Buxton Memorial are included in the planning application, especially the Environmental Statement, which remains available on Westminster City Council’s website.

Property Management Companies: Fees and Charges

Lord McColl of Dulwich: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reinforce a fair market by ensuring that fees, and particularly increases in fees, charged by property management companies are transparent and justified to their customers.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: By law, variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, the work or services must be of a reasonable standard. Leaseholders may make an application to the appropriate tribunal to challenge the reasonableness of their service charges.We are committed to protecting and empowering leaseholders by giving them more information on what their costs pay for. We will legislate to ensure service charges are transparent and communicated effectively, removing barriers to challenge when things go wrong. This will help leaseholders more effectively challenge their landlord if they consider their fees are unreasonable. We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this parliament.

Housing: Disability and Older People

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to ensure there are enough accessible and adaptable homes available for those older and disabled people who need them.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: I refer the noble Baroness to my answer to Question  HL8422 which was answered on 26 June 2023.PQ HL8422 (pdf, 94.2KB)

Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Line: Waste Management

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure that the new discharge pipes connected to the HS2 project, leading to Yeading Brook behind Ruislip Gardens Station, have a discharge licence; whether they can describe what chemicals and volumes are permitted under this licence; who is doing the water quality monitoring; and where the monitoring data appears locally.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Any discharges of water from the HS2 project to the natural environment require discharge consents, approved by the regulator – the Environment Agency (‘EA’), as specified in Schedule 33 Part 5 of the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017. There is an agreed consent to discharge water from the South Ruislip Vent Shaft site to a drain that discharges to the Yeading Brook. The conditions for this state the maximum limits of the following parameters: Total daily discharge volume - 3024m3/dayRate of discharge - 35 litres per secondSuspended solids - 50 mg/lpH - 6 to 9Sulphate - 2000 mg/lVisible oil or grease as is reasonably practicable - No significant trace present, so far The consent states that the sulphate levels within the water are to be recorded and reported to the EA on a monthly basis. The total daily discharge volume and the rate of discharge are to be recorded and reported as and when requested by the EA.

Railways: Wi-Fi

Baroness Randerson: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Vere of Norbiton on 20 June (HL8309), what is the closing date for initial responses for operators regarding the provision of passenger Wi-Fi on trains; and what is their timeframe for considering the options before they report on their conclusions.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Department is due to receive initial responses from operators regarding the provision of passenger Wi-Fi on trains in the coming weeks. There is no set timeframe for considering the options presented by operators.

Territorial Waters: Security

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) shipsor craft, and (2) aircraft, are allocated by each department for security and enforcement operations in the UK's Territorial Seas and Exclusive Economic Zone.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: There are more than 100 surface vessels and 10 crewed aircraft available in the HMG inventory to deliver maritime security. The Government does not confirm exact numbers for operational and security reasons. The number available on any given day is based on operational readiness profiles; for example, requirements for maintenance and training, and use for wider operational tasking. The Joint Maritime Security Centre maintains a record of the HMG inventory, which is regularly reviewed and updated. In delivering maritime security in the UK Marine Area, the UK operates a layered approach to coastal and maritime defence, including on-shore resources, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, to detect those seeking either to smuggle illicit goods or to facilitate illegal entry into the UK.

Joint Maritime Security Centre and National Maritime Information Centre: Staff

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Joint Maritime Security Centre and National Maritime Information Centre are up to complement; and who has operational command.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: JMSC is jointly sponsored by the Home Office and Department for Transport, with support in kind provided by the Ministry of Defence. It is led by the Head of JMSC, currently James Morgan, a Border Force officer. Border Force exercises management responsibility over the JMSC on behalf of the Sponsoring Departments. It is expected to reach full complement later this year.